Eating out with a friend during COVID19 and an MMT discussion
Posted By RichC on December 22, 2020
With only a handful of meals out during this COVID19 year with my buddy Jeff this past year, I’ve learned to appreciate them even more than usual. We’ve been having lunch together each month or so as a way to stay connected for decades and for 
me adjusting to just emails and text messages is not the same.
I’ve probably taken his friendship for granted in the past, but we have always assisted each other and have been available to lend each other a hand. I’ve appreciated having a non-judgmental person to bounce ideas off of. Sometimes its just a way to clarity thoughts, other times it’s applying the two-heads are better than one brainstorming principle. This past week it was contemplating life after working and what our country holds from the perspective of our exponentially increasing debt and deficits. What I appreciate about Jeff is that once he gets thinking about something, he dives into it intellectually. I enjoy reading a bit, but nothing like him.
Our recent topic was on MMT (Modern Monetary Theory) and if that was the direction the United States was going. I suspected this for a while now, but recently it seems to be gaining a following from politicians and economists who disagree with being overly concern with our deficit, let alone our growing debt. Neither of us are MMTers, or believe government can continue to print and spent money without the traditional economic schoolo of thought that inflation will skyrocket (perhaps that is because we’ve experienced inflation or have seen what can happen with hyperinflation for other countries)?
Point being, is what should we be doing about it or how should we be investing for our retirement years IF this becomes a possibility? Both of us had our own untested ideas and I admitted that each time I thought we in the U.S. faced ballooning deficits and debt … it passed without catastrophe result – we slumped, picked up the pieces and continued to repeat digging the same behavior. It continues to be justified by pointing to the debt-to-GDP ratio and that we in the US are better at managing our economy than some other countries.
Still … I’m very uncomfortable living with trillion dollar deficits and an exponentially growing debt. Diversifying was about the only conclusion we could come up with that made any sense when it comes to saving and investing.
2/2/2022: I’m not sure about the clock above, but just noticed that in Feb 2022 our U.S. National Debt surpassed $30 TRILLION. One has to wonder if Congress and President Biden declares “spending fully paid for” why we continue to advance our debt at this rapid rate?
But the real reason to add something to this post was to include a humorous photo that I sent to my buddy Jeff (a hot sauce and salsa lover) a photo that I thought he might appreciate. 😊
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